Pre-surgical Geriatric Syndromes, Frailty, and Risks for Postoperative Delirium in Older Patients Undergoing Gastrointestinal Surgery: Prevalence and Red Flags

We sought to identify and evaluate red flags for pre-surgical geriatric conditions (geriatric syndromes, frailty, and risks for postoperative delirium) in older patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery. Older individuals (a parts per thousand yen65 years) undergoing major elective gastrointestinal surgery from 2009 to 2012 were enrolled and assessed preoperatively. Participants (N = 379; mean age = 74.5 +/- 5.9 years) primarily underwent colorectal (54.3 %), gastric (21.9 %), and pancreatobiliary (12.6 %) surgery. Overall, 30.9 % had existing geriatric syndromes, 26.7 % were frail, and 22.8 % had > 3 risk factors for postoperative delirium. The largest proportion (45.7 %) presented with at least one geriatric condition. Patients with or without geriatric conditions were discriminated with adequate sensitivity (67 %), specificity (84 %), and positive predictive value (77 %) by eight red flags: age a parts per thousand yen75 years (OR, 2.86; P < 0.001), eating soft food (OR, 3.63; P = 0.001), reported hypertension (OR, 2.8; P = 0.001), weight loss > 3 kg (OR, 4.79; P < 0.001), fair-to-weak grip strength (OR, 2.53; P = 0.001), sleeplessness (OR, 2.57; P = 0.001), no-better-than-peer perceived health (OR, 1.88; P = 0.022), and short-term inability to recall two of three common words (OR, 1.81; P = 0.025). Eight red flags covered as part of history and physical examination are well suited to screen patients for geriatric conditions indicating the need for preoperative geriatric assessments and optimization.